N.C. State football trainers rehearse injury treatment with Wake EMS

RALEIGH -- The N.C. State athletic training staff conducted a joint drill with Wake County EMS today at Carter-Finley Stadium as preparation for the upcoming football season, reviewing procedures in case of a suspected spinal cord injury by a player.

In the third year running this type of drill, the two groups practiced three different scenarios, where Adam Hager, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound graduate assistant athletic trainer, pretended to be unconscious and was lifted onto a stretcher before getting carried away on a gator cart.

"Since the players are usually bigger than the average person and have all their equipment on, it makes sense to come out and address this ahead of time with the NC State staff," said Jeffrey Hammerstein, Wake County EMS District Chief. "In the event of a spinal injury, it's important to calculate every move we make and be careful when we move things that could aggravate the injury. Training is important; training always matters in getting everything right."

Hammerstein said the drills mostly targeted potential spinal cord injuries because others, like knee and ankle injuries, don't require as much specialized training in lifting the entire player on to a stretcher.

Along with NC State's training staff, including a neurosurgeon and multiple orthopedic surgeons, there were nine paramedics from Wake County EMS, two of whom will be present at each Wolfpack home game this fall.

"Our hope is that we can get everyone — the EMS, the athletic trainers, the physicians — on the same page and not discussing procedures on the field," said Charlie Rozanski, State's director of sports medicine.

In the three years since the drill was implemented, there have been no spinal cord injuries at Carter-Finley Stadium.